Left Behind
by Alicia457
Summary: The company of Thorin Oakenshield already faced many dangers. But what will happen if some of it's members have to be left behind? Rated T, just to be safe. This story might contain spoilers for the last part of The Hobbit Trilogy and the book (and also for The Hobbit: DOS for the ones who haven't seen this movie yet), however I will try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Bilbo watched as Gandalf rode away at full speed, leaving the company at the borders of Mirkwood. He felt utterly miserable now. Now he wished he could go with the wizard, so he didn't have to go in the forest.

"_It looks rather… evil. I don't like the feeling it's giving me." _Bilbo tought, looking at the forest suspicious.

"So now the wizard leaves us again. And that right before we are about to enter this wretched forest!" Dwalin grumbled.

He was looking really annoyed. And so was Thorin fort hat matter. The others were only watching the forest darkly. Except for Bilbo and Ori, who totally weren't feeling at easy.

"This forest feels… sick", Bilbo managed to say. "Are you sure there is no way around?"

"There is no way around." Thorin answered. "Come on."

He started leading the company in the forest of Mirkwood. Bilbo however faltered at the entrance.

"Keep up, burglar!" Thorin yelled back at him.

Reluctant he followed them into the forest and walked next to Bofur, who had waited for him to join them.

Thorin walked at the front of the group, closely followed by Dwalin. Both dwarves were keeping an eye on the path. When they came to a crossroad, they momentarily stopped. Thorin searched for wich way the path was leading. Shoving away some leaves with his feet, he found the stone path again.

"The path turnes this way." He said, turning left.

They all followed him, staying very close to each other. They didn't want to lose someone, for it would be a very difficult task to find someone again in here. They kept walking for what felt like hours. They had lost all track of time, for as they had ventured deeper in the forest it had steadily become darker. The trees were growing really close to each other now, not letting the rays of the sun come trough their leaves. Also the air had grown really thick.

"Air. I need air!" Bofur complained.

"My head… It's spinning", Oin said. "What's happening?"

"Keep moving!" Thorin ordered.

Thorin walked towards Nori, who had taken his place at the front to watch where the path was going, and now had stopped walking.

"Nori, why have we stopped?" Thorin asked him.

"The path. It has dissapeared." Nori answered.

"What's going on?!" Dwalin yelled from somewhere at the back of the group.

"We've lost the path!" Oin yelled back.

"Find it!" Thorin said. "All of you! Look for the path!"

They all went different ways in order to search for the path. They didn't went to far away from the others however. It didn't take long before everyone was back, and all of them with the same news. That the path was nowhere to be found.

"We will rest here for a while", Thorin anounced. "Balin, a word."

Thorin and Balin walked away from the rest of the company. Everyone else seated himself on the ground.

"What is going to happen now?" Ori asked. "Are we ever going to get out of here?"

Ori eyed his surroundings warily. It was easy to tell that he was scared.

"I don't know, lad." Dori said. "But I'm sure we will find a way out of this place."

He tried to smile reassuring to Ori, but failed miserable. The truth was that he didn't feel any better than his youngest brother.

After that being said, everyone remained silent. Even Bofur, who normally wouldn't stop talking, was silent now. They were all cautious and listening for strange noices. But they didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. The only thing they noticed was that, around them, many yellow eyes where looking at them from the dark.

"Does anyone have an idea what those are?" Kíli whispered, nodding at the yellow eyes that were lighting up in the dark behind his back.

Everyone just shook there head as a reply. At that moment Thorin and Balin came back.

"Get up! We're leaving." Thorin said. Everyone got to his feet. Only Bilbo remained seated.

"Wich way are we going?" He asked.

"That way." Balin said, pointing his finger at the oposite direction they just came from.

The dwarves all started walking towards the way Balin haid pointed out. Bilbo slowly stood up from the ground, using the rock he had been sitting against to push himself to his feet. But as he did so he felt something sticky underneath his hands. He pulled at it. When he released it, he could hear the sidder that went through it until it was high in the trees.

"_I don't like the sound of that!" _He tought to himself and ran after the others.

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><p><strong>Well, this is the first chapter of my new story.<br>I'm sorry this is looking a bit like the movie. I just needed to start somewhere, so I decided to start with the company entering Mirkwood.  
>The next couple of chapters will be also containing things from the movie. But when the story continues, I won't be using much from book or movie.<br>So for the ones who haven't read the book yet, I think it's safe to read this. For I will only be using very little of what happens in it. Only some of the important happenings (with major adjustments). Ofcourse that's all up to you.**

**I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. That would really be great.**

**Alicia**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bilbo caught up with the dwarves as they started walking even deeper into the forest. Spiderwebs were now covering nearly every inch of the trees.  
>Bilbo looked suspicious at them.<p>

"This place looks familiar." Ori suddenly said, breaking the silence that had been among them for quite some time.

"Ofcourse it looks familiar! We're in a forest! Everything looks the same in here, lad!" Balin snarled.

Ori cringed at the sound of Balin's voice and slowed down until he was walking next to Dori, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders.  
>Dori glared at Balin, who turned his back to them and walked towards the head of the group.<p>

Bilbo looked at Balin in shock. He had never seen or heard him reacting like that.

"_I'm sure this blasted forest is to blame for that!"_ He tought to himself, shaking his head. _"How much more trouble is this forest going to give us?"_

Bilbo was so caught up in his toughts, he didn't notice the other members of the company had already gone further again.  
>Someone yelling at him, snapped him out of his musings.<p>

"Come on, Bilbo! Keep up will you!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" He yelled back and started walking faster.

"Keep up, lad." Bofur said to him as he had joined the dwarves again. "You don't want to get lost in here!"

"No, indeed. I would deffinetly not want that." Bilbo answered.

"Then stay close!" Thorin snapped at him. "We don't have the time to wait for you all the time or search for you! Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir! You surely did." Bilbo replied, getting fed up with Thorin's attitude towards him. He picked something up from the ground.

"In fact, I'm even sure all other things in this forest must've understood you as well. See, this little thing here. I think he came to say hello to you!"

Bilbo first showed the cockroach to Thorin and then gave it to him.

"Maybe the two of you could become very good friends! At him you can rant as much as you like! It won't botter him. Then you at least don't have to do it at me again!"

Everyone remained silent, staring in shock at Bilbo. They didn't believe he had actually said those things. Even Thorin looked rather very surprised. The silence remained until someone started snickering. They all turned to look from where the sound was coming from. All eyes eventually turned to Kíli, who was biting his lower lip so he would not laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?" Dwalin and Nori asked at the same time.

"You should've seen your faces." Kíli answered, still trying hard not to laugh.

"You know Kíli, Bilbo's remark wasn't funny." Fíli said, looking quite stern at his younger brother.

"I know it isn't, brother. But your faces were." Kíli said with a wide grin. "Anyway, Bilbo's right you know. Why is it always him you are ranting at, Thorin? What has he ever done wrong to you? To any of us?" Kíli said as he turned his attention to Thorin.

"He has only caused us trouble and slowed us down until now. What is his worth if that's the only thing he does? He should never have left his home." Thorin answered in forced calmness.

"His worth?" Kíli said in disbelieve. "I think he has proven his worth already a long time ago when he protected you from the orc that tried to kill you, after you foolishly challenged Azog! Doesn't that mean anything?!"

"Kíli…" Fíli started saying, trying to reason with his brother. He was only interupted however.

"I don't even want to hear it this time, Fíli!" Kíli snarled at him.

Fíli looked a bit offended by his brother's outburst at him, but stopped talking nevertheless.

"Doesn't it?!" Kíli asked Thorin once again.

Thorin didn't answer and walked away. Kíli quickly stepped forward and grabbed Thorin's wrist. Yanking him back, Kíli angrily looked at him.

"He's a nuisance, Kíli. Nothing more." Thorin replied.

Bilbo sucked in his breath and looked very hurted after that comment, but he didn't say anything. Thorin was quickly losing his patience now and everyone noticed it, so noone said anything. Not even Fíli. Kíli however was so angry that he didn't seem to notice.

"If he's a nuisance, then what about the others?! Do you think about us as just a nuisance as well?!"

"No, I don't. You're all warriors." Thorin said.

"So that's the only thing that matters for you, is it? You only want warriors to be a part of this quest! At least Bilbo's capable of fighting, isn't he? He escaped the Goblin Tunnels on his own. He also fought orcs and wargs already. So he's as much experienced as me and Fíli are! We haven't seen any more battle then he has!"

"You two were trained as warriors, so you're more experienced then him!" Thorin said through gritted teeth, trying hard not to snap at his youngest nephew.

"There's a difference between fighting against someone you know and a bunch of orcs Thorin! And it's not his fault that he hasn't had the chance to practice before this quest! That's something they don't do in his country!" Kíli said, anger very audible in his voice. "You always taught us to see the good in other people! You also always said that that's what your father and grandfather have taught you! Such a good example you are! Grandfather and great-grandfather would be so dissapointed now!"

That remark costed Thorin the last of his self-control. He lunged at Kíli with a clenged fist. As Thorin's fist made contact with Kíli's face, he fell back on the forest floor.  
>Kíli looked up at Thorin with nothing but shock and terror in his eyes. Fíli was seething with anger as soon as Thorin struck Kíli. But the furious look in his uncle's eyes stopped him from acting. All the others only stared, unsure how to react on what just had occurred.<p>

"Don't talk about things you don't know or don't understand, lad!" Thorin yelled at Kíli before turning around and stomping of.

"We will camp here." He said against the others as he kept walking further away from them, only to stop a little further ahead.

Fíli walked over to his brother and stretched out his hand to help him up. Kíli pushed it away, stood up and walked away. Fíli started to follow him, but was stopped by someone grabbing his arm.

"Let him go, lad." Gloin said. "Let him be."

Fíli stared after his brother for a while longer before he turned around and walked over to where Bombur was sitting and helped him to start a fire. As Bombur had started cooking a meal from the food they got left, Fíli sat down a little bit away from everyone and started to sharpen his swords and knives. He needed the distraction to lose the anger he felt towards Thorin a bit. He only looked up from his work when someone came to stand in front of him. Bofur stood in front of him with two bowls of stew in his hands.

"Here." Bofur said, handing him the two bowls. "Will you bring one of them to the lad?" He added, nodding his head towards the place where Kíli was sitting.

Fíli nodded. Bofur smiled at him before he walked back to the fire and sat down next to Bombur. Fíli placed the bowls down on the ground momentarily to lie his swords and knives aside. Standing up, he picked up the bowls and walked over to where his brother was sitting.

"I brought you some food." He said when he reached his brother.

"I'm not hungry." Kíli answered without looking up.

"Kíli, you need to eat something."

"I said I'm not hungry!" Kíli snapped.

Fíli sighed, placed the bowls on the ground again and sat down next to his brother.

"You're alright?" He asked.

"What do you think?!" Kíli snarled, turning his head to look at his brother.

The pain was so visible in his eyes that Fíli immediatly felt guilty.

"Kíli, I'm sorry."

"Right. Thank you for the food." Kíli plainly said.

"I'm serious Kíli!" He said.

"I know…" Kíli only answered.

They remained silent for a long moment. But Fíli didn't like the silence, so he decided to break it.

"Does it hurt?" He asked to Kíli.

"No." He got as an answer.

But his brother's face told him something else. A rather large, purple bruise was forming on Kíli's left cheek where Thorin had hit him.

"You know you can't lie to me, little brother." He said, smiling softly at Kíli. "May I look at it?"

He carefully stretched his fingers to softly touch the bruise forming on his brother's left cheek. Kíli withdrew his head away from him.

"Don't touch it, pleace." Kíli said, pleading.

"So it hurts then?" He asked, looking closely at his brother.

Kíli slowly nodded.

"Maybe you should let Oin look at it." Fíli said.

"No. I don't want to be a burden to anyone." Kíli whispered.

"You're not a burden, brother!"

"He surely thinks I am!" Kíli said, glancing at Thorin who had joined the others near the fire again.

"No, he doesn't." Fíli replied.

"He never struck me before." Kíli mumbled.

"I know Kíli. But I think you hit quite a sensitive topic to him."

"What do you mean?" Kíli asked.

"I mean that what you said about grandfather and great-grandfather went a bit across what he could take at that time." Fíli explained.

"Oh… But…"

"That's not a reason to strike you, I know." Fíli interrupted Kíli.

They stopped talking as they heard someone coming closer to where they were sitting. They both watched as Balin walked closer.

"Thorin wants to talk to you lad." He said, looking at Fíli.

Fíli nodded at him.

"Alright. I'm coming." He said to Balin.

"Are you coming too?" Fíli asked to his brother, but Kíli only shook his head.

"No, I'll stay here a bit longer." Kíli said, smiling at his older brother.

"Alright, but don't stay here to long. And eat that stew before it gets cold!"

"I will."

"Good." Fíli said before walking away.

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><p><strong>Hello everyone.<strong>

**So here is chapter 2 for Left Behind. I'm sorry it took me so long to write.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

**-Alicia-**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Fíli walked towards the fire and sat down next to Thorin. Thorin didn't notice him right away. For he was staring in the flames, seemingly deep in his own thoughts.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" He asked Thorin.

His anger that had dissapeared for a short time, returned again as he looked at his uncle's calm expression.

"_How can he be so calm after everything that happened only a short time ago!"_ Fíli thought to himself.

He couldn't remember when he had ever been so angry at someone. If he already had been.

Thorin raised his head and looked at him.

"I want your opinion about something." Thorin said.

Fíli nodded, waiting for his uncle to continue.

"A bit further ahead is a crossroad. What I wanted to know is wich way you think would be best for us to take. Left, right or straight ahead?"

"You are our leader. Why don't you decide that?" Fíli asked.

"Because I'm not sure." Thorin said, while poking in the fire to keep it burning.

"And you think I know wich way to go? I don't know where we are either! What if I chose the wrong road?" Fíli replied, raising his voice a little.

"Then no one will blame you." Thorin answered. "And please Fíli, keep your voice down a bit."

Fíli wondered why Thorin said that and looked around, searching for some indication that they were being watched. It was then he noticed everyone was already asleep, except for him, Thorin, Dwalin and Kíli. Dwalin was standing a little further ahead to guard the place for possible intruders and Kíli was still sitting at the same place where he had left him earlier.

Fíli slowly nodded his head and looked back at Thorin.

"The others might not blame me. But what about you?" Fíli asked, lowering his voice.

"I would never blame you, lad." Thorin said in an equally soft voice.

"Then why did you blame Bilbo and Kíli for being a burden? They got their worth too."

"I know they do." Thorin whispered.

"What you said and did earlier contradicts that, uncle!" Fíli said with forced calmness.

"Maybe I acted a bit to harsh. But I reacted like that because I'm worried, certainly in this place. And I just want them to finally start realising that." Thorin replied while he stood up to get some more of the wood that some of the others had gathered earlier and throwed them in the fire.

"You acted out of worry? Uncle, you hit Kíli!"

"That was because he went out of line!" Thorin said, raising his voice a little.

"Out of line for telling the truth?! He was right with what he said, you know!"

Thorin sighed heavilly.

"I know he was right, lad."

"Then why did you hit him?!"

Fíli was shouting again, not caring who or what heard him. He glared furiously at Thorin, waiting for him to answer. Bilbo and the other dwarves had woken up and were now looking at them. Only Gloin and Bombur were still asleep, snoring rather loud.

"Maybe it is better if we lower our voices a bit again." Thorin remarked. "There are some who are trying to get some rest."

Thorin looked at the ones who were listening and they took this as an indication that this was a conversation they rather wanted to hold in private. So they made themselves comfortable again and one by one drifted off to sleep again.

"Why should I remain quiet?!" Fíli continued after a while, when they were certain everyone was fast asleep once more.

"Uncle, you didn't see the pain in his eyes! I did!"

Thorin wanted to reply, but remained silent when he saw Kíli walking closer to them.

When his uncle didn't reply and kept staring at something behind him, Fíli turned his head to the same place Thorin was looking at and noticed Kíli walking towards the fire. Kíli placed his half-empty bowl next the others before walking towards his bedroll. Not once he looked at Thorin or Fíli.

When Thorin noticed the purple bruise on the left side of Kíli's face, he gasped softly.

"_Oh, Mahal! I must've hitted him harder then I thought."_ Thorin thought as he kept looking closely at Kíli, feeling extremely guilty. Kíli lied down on his right side, facing away from them.

"You should get some rest as well." Thorin said to Fíli after a long time of silence. "You will need your strength again tomorrow."

Fíli wasn't happy with the dismissal, for in his opinion he wasn't done talking yet. But he silently relented, not completely willing to anger his uncle any further. He stood up from the ground.

"I think it would be best to turn right." Fíli quickly said to Thorin.

Without looking back at his uncle, he started to walk to his own bedroll, wich was located right next to Kíli's. Lying down slowly, he turned to face Kíli and smiled. Kíli was sleeping peacefully.

"Sleep tight, brother." Fíli softly said before he too closed his eyes and fell into a peacefull slumber.

Thorin remained seated near the fire, regularly poking in it to keep it burning. Looking to where his nephews were sleeping, he smiled fondly. They always needed to be close to each other. If you would separate them, the both of them would be unmanageable. He looked up when he heard Dwalin walk towards him with his heavy boots.

"Why don't you just go and rest? I will be keeping watch the entire time." Dwalin said, looking down at him.

"You're sure about that? You can use the rest as well." Thorin answered.

"I am sure. I'm not going to rest in this cursed place!"

"Yes, you are." Thorin said. "Everyone is needed at his full strenght! And you are no exception!"

"Thorin…" Dwalin started to argue, but was interrupted by Thorin.

"That's final Dwalin! Wake me up over four hours."

"Alright then."

Dwalin walked back to the place where he had been standing before.

As Dwalin had left, Thorin threw some extra logs in the fire to keep it going. It was very important that the fire kept burning for it would keep away any unfriendly creatures that might be lurking in the shadows of the forest. As he walked to the place he slept, wich was a little away from his companions, he passed Fíli and Kíli. Stopping momentarilly, he looked at them. Eventually he made his way over to Kíli and bended over him. He was was fast asleep. Thorin looked him over closely and his eyes soon fell on the bruise. It went from his jaw until right underneath his left eye. Thorin carefully touched the bruised skin. Kíli let out a soft whimper, but didn't woke up. He pulled back his hand.

_"I'm going to tell Oin to look at it next time the lad wakes up."_ He thought.

Thorin walked further to his sleeping place. Lying down, he turned on his side and tried to get some sleep. But sleep wouldn't come to him. Thorin sighed and turned on his back again. He folded his arms behind his head and looked up at the trees, wondering what the next day would bring.

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><p><strong>So here's chapter 3 for Left Behind. Hope you guys like it and please don't forget to review.<br>Getting reviews really makes me happy ;)**

**-Alicia-**


	4. Author's Note

Hi everyone.

**With this I want to say that I will stop updating my stories.**

**Many thanks to everyone who left a review for me.**

**I wish you a happy 1st of april.**

**Much love,**

**Alicia**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Thorin woke up the next morning, everyone had already started to break up the camp. Thorin sat up and cursed. He should have been up to keep watch several hours ago.

"How long have I been asleep?" He asked himself out loud.

But since no one was saying anything, his words were heard by all who were close enough to hear them.

"For about eight hours." Balin replied as he walked closer.

Thorin looked at him in disbelieve.

"Here you go." Balin said and handed Thorin a bowl. "We saved some for you and the lads, wich was not an easy thing to do with Bombur around."

There were soft chuckles coming from the other dwarves. Bombur glanced over at him and Balin, clearly looking embarrassed. Thorin couldn't help but to smile at the situation that had occured while trying to imagine the scene. He accepted the bowl with food and started eating. Looking over at the dwarves who were still working on breaking up their camp, Thorin noticed that two dwarves weren't helping them.

"Where are Fíli and Kíli?" He asked to Balin, who was still standing next to him. "Why aren't they helping you?"

Balin motioned over to a place a bit removed from the ruckus that now started to break out. Thorin looked over to the place where Balin had pointed at and noticed his nephews were still sound asleep.

"Why don't you wake them?" Thorin questioned.

"We wanted them to rest as long as is possible. And that counted for you as well."

After Balin had said this, Dwalin walked past them.

"Dwalin!" Thorin called out to the dwarf. Dwalin stopped and turned around to face him.

"Why haven't you woken me up like I asked you to do?"

"You remained awake until about half an hour before it was your turn to stand guard." Dwalin said.

That is why we decided not to wake you up." Balin added to his brother's explanation.

"We?" Thorin asked, looking from the one dwarf to the other.

"Yes. Me and Dwalin thought it would be best to let you rest. So I took your place."

"You shouldn't have…" Thorin started to say, but Balin interrupted him.

"I was awake anyway. So it really didn't matter. Now finish that and let the lads sleep for a while longer. We will take care of the rest."

Thorin nodded. Balin and Dwalin walked away from him to let him eat in peace and to help the other dwarves, and their burglar, again. He quickly ate, cleaned the bowl and stuffed it in his bag. He rolled up his bedroll and tied it to his pack, tightly securing it. Once he was done with this, he picked it up and walked to all the materials they had and placed it down. Everything was now ready to depart. Only their two youngest members still hadn't woken up yet. Thorin walked over at Oin, who was quickly checking his bag to make sure he didn't forgot anything.

"Oin." He said loud enough for their physician to hear him. "I want you to wake them up. And would you also want to take a quick look at Kíli's face? I want to get going as soon as possible."

Oin nodded and walked over to the two, still sleeping, dwarves. Thorin watched them as Oin tried to wake them up. Kíli woke up a little and looked up at Oin, still sleepy. Fíli, however, only turned on his other side and kept sleeping. Oin tried again for two times, but eventually gave up and turned his attention back at Kíli. Thorin could here him talking to Kíli, trying to convince him to let him look at his face. But everytime he tried to, Kíli only pushed him away. So eventually Oin gave up on that as well and walked back to him.

"The lad is being stubborn. He won't let me look at it." Oin told him as soon as he had reached him.

"I noticed. Thank you, Oin." Thorin replied, picking up the two bowls that were meant for his nephews before walking to them. Oin returned to what he had been doing before.

When he reached them, Thorin sat down and placed the bowls next to him. Fíli was softly snoring and Kíli had closed his eyes again. Placing one hand on each of his nephews and shook them hard. Fíli immediatly sat up and looked around him, looking very startled. Kíli on the other hand remained lying down and slowly blinked.

"What's wrong?" Fíli asked him when he noticed his uncle sitting next to him.

"Nothing's wrong, Fíli. We are only ready to continue." Thorin replied before holding a bowl out to both of them. "But first eat this."

Fíli reached over and took the bowl from his uncle.

"_Good they left some food for us. I'm really hungry."_ Fíli thought while he started eating.

Thorin was still holding the other bowl out at Kíli, but he never accepted it. Instead he mumbled something.

"What did you say, lad?" Thorin asked.

"I'm not hungry." Kíli repeated, more understandable this time.

"You should really eat something, Kíli. It might be a very long time before you will be able to eat something again."

"I don't need anything!" Kíli snapped. "And certainly not from you!"

Fíli stopped eating and looked at Kíli. He surely never had heard his brother snap at Thorin like that before. Even Thorin looked at him in shock. The silence was very noticable. All the others were staring in their direction now as well. Kíli jumped to his feet and wanted to walk away, but Thorin quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.

"We need to talk." Thorin said after regaining himself, looking up at his youngest nephew.

"And what makes you think I want to talk?!" Kíli replied coldly.

"Kíli, please?"

"I will go and see if there is still anything I can do to help." Fíli said before quickly leaving them.

Kíli sat down on the ground again with an exasperated sigh and looked at Thorin warily.

Thorin noticed Kíli was really tense around him and that he was watching him nervously.

"Kíli. There is nothing to be so nervous and so tense." Thorin said while trying to place a hand on Kíli's shoulder.

Kíli shifted away from him, obviously not wanted to be touched. Thorin abruptly stopped trying to reach out to him. Realisation suddenly hit him, for he recognised the look Kíli was giving him. It was the same look he had used when he was younger and had been scared of something.

"He's afraid of me." Thorin thought to himself.

That realisation made him feel like someone had punched him.

"Kíli. For everything I did and said to you. I'm sorry…"

"Spare me your apologies, Thorin! I'm not in the mood to listen to them!"

Kíli stood up and walked to his brother, not giving Thorin another chance to start speaking. Thorin watched him walking away with nothing but regret.

"Kíli… I'm so sorry, my boy." He muttered.

But there was no one to hear his words.

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><p><strong>Hello again!<strong>

**So here I am with chapter 4 for this fanfiction.  
>I know I promised to some of you to update my fanfiction "Our Very Unexpected Journey" first now, but I seem not to be able to concentrate me on it enough<br>for the moment. Also it doesn't really want to work out as well as I would want. So I hope this will make it up to you a bit. I can't tell you how sorry I am for this delay.**

Enjoy! :D

**-Alicia-**

* * *

><p><strong>And now up to the Guest reviews.<strong>

**To Guest on chapter 3 . Mar 28: I'm so glad you like this fanfiction and I hope you will keep enjoying this and future chapters. Thank you for reading! :D**

**To Guest on author's note. Apr 1: Don't worry. It indeed was an april fools joke. I never would want to dissapoint my readers ;)  
>Enjoy reading and thank you for reviewing :D<strong>


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As soon as Kíli had walked away, Thorin started to gather his nephews' belongings and put them in their bags. When he started to roll up Kíli's bedroll, something fell on the ground. Bending forward, he picked the fallen object up and looked at it. It was a small, polished stone with runes engraved in it. A parting gift his sister had given to his youngest nephew. Thorin carefully placed it between some of Kíli's spare clothes before closing the bag and attaching the bedroll to it. Picking up both bags, Thorin walked over to Fíli and Kíli and placed their bags close to them without saying a word. He walked over to his own bag and swung it on his back.

"Get your belongings. We're leaving!" Thorin said grumpily against the others.

Everyone quickly picked their own bags, erased all traces of the fire and followed after Thorin without saying a word.

"What did you do or say to make him so angry all of a sudden?" Fíli asked his brother while they swinged their own packs on their back.

Kíli only shrugged and walked after the group. Fíli rolled his eyes and followed after his brother.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Fíli asked as he caught up with Kíli.

"Because there is nothing to say." Kíli answered.

"I know that that isn't true and so do you. The look on your face and Thorin's demeanor are telling me enough."

"Just drop it, Fíli. Please? I'm really not in the mood to talk about it."

"Fine then." Fíli answered.

They both went silent and continued walking. Not a word was spoken between them for many hours.

Thorin had leaded them to the crossroad and then had turned right, taking the road he and Fíli had discussed the previous evening. They kept following the path for many hours and soon noticed that the trees had started growing even closer to each other, making it very hard to follow the path they had been walking on for a long time already.

"Does he even know where he is going to?" Nori whispered to Dori. "We have been walking through this place for probably many days already. And still we haven't seen anything that even looks like an exit!"

"Do you know the way out?" Dori asked. "Then go ahead and show us."

Nori didn't answer to Dori's remark. He only looked straight ahead.

"At least he is trying to get us out. Don't blame others for something you wouldn't be able to do either!" Dori lectured him.

"Stop lecturing me like I am still a little child!" Nori snarled. "I can say and think whatever I like!"

"You can. But then think about the fact that you are talking like that about our leader and king. And remember what punishments would be given to anyone who would speak about the king like this if we would have reclaimed Erebor already." Dori remarked.

Nori didn't know what to say after that, so he remained silent after Dori's warning.

"It seems like we have been walking even deeper into the forest instead of walking towards the edge." Balin, who was also walking in front of the group, remarked at Thorin.

Thorin didn't reply, but in his mind he agreed with Balin. That thought had plagued him for a while already as well. So as soon as he got the chance to, Thorin took a path to the left, hoping this one would bring them closer to the edge of Mirkwood. Following this new path, they soon found their path blocked by many tree roots. Some of them were growing many feet above the ground, wich would make it very difficult to cross them.

"What will we do now?" Fíli asked when he had joined his uncle at the front of the group.

"We will continue." Thorin simply replied.

"That has to be a joke, right? How long will it be taking us to get across those?!" Gloin protested.

Some of the other dwarves grunted in agreement, while others remained silent.

"There is no other way." Thorin said loudly and slightly annoyed. "Come."

Thorin walked over to the first tree roots and started to climb over them. The other dwarves followed him indignantly. Soon they were all strugling to get across the roots, of wich some of them were towering above them. Many of them slipped several times. This caused many bruises, cuts, scratches and a lot of cursing, especially from Gloin when Bombur slipped and fell on top of him. Eventually they reached a high wall of branches from both sides of the path that had entwined themselves with eachother. Bombur would've never gotten across it on his own. So Fíli, Kíli and Dwalin had to lift him up while Bifur, Bofur and Nori pulled him up by the arms.

"My arms! You're ripping my arms off!" Bombur complained.

"Then don't let yourself hang down like that!" Kíli grumbled, struggling hard to keep Bombur up.

After quite some time they managed to get Bombur on top of the wall of branches. While the three dwarves already on top of it were working on getting Bombur down, wich was another daunting task, Fíli and Kíli started to climb up. Fíli reached the top first and stretched out his hand towards his brother. But before Kíli could take a hold onto his brother's hand, he slipped and fell back down. He swore under his breath when he hit the ground and felt a sharp pain in his right ankle.

"You're alright?" Fíli yelled from above, laughing softly.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Kíli replied, feeling annoyed with himself for falling and probably nursing a sprained ankle now.

Kíli startled when someone suddenly grabbed his arm. He looked up at Dwalin and cursed himself for forgetting he had been still down here.

"Get up, lad. We don't have time to dawdle!" Dwalin grumbled at Kili and hauled him up.

Kili hissed softly as the pain in his ankle increased when he put pressure on it. But he quickly composed himself and shoved Dwalin away from him. He walked over to the branches and looked up at them, not feeling much for climbing them again. But, he thought bitterly, there was no other choice. Right when he wanted to start climbing, Dwalin suddenly lifted him on his shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Kíli asked at Dwalin, looking puzzled at him.

"If we will have to wait until you have climbed up there again, we will have lost half an hour! That's time we don't have in this place! So just stand on my shoulders and let the lad up there pull you up." Dwalin replied.

Kíli complied silently, sensing the other dwarf's annoyance. As soon as he was standing on Dwalin's shoulders, Fíli reached out again. He took a tight hold on his brother's wrists and pulled him up so he could sit on top of the roots next to him.

"From here on you will have to jump." Fíli said.

"Alright." Kíli replied, looking down nervously. "Do I really have to jump? Can't I climb down?"

Fíli shook his head. "There are no sufficient places to place your feet on this side. Nori already tried that and he kept a nice bump on the back of his head because of it." Fíli replied with a small smirk on his face. "You're not scared are you? You have climbed so many trees already. This is not so different."

"I'm not scared. But I always climbed down from trees, not jumped down."

"It's alright. I will catch you, if that is what you want?" Fíli said, trying to reassure Kíli.

Kíli nodded, feeling embarrassed because he was feeling nervous for something like this.

In the meantime Dwalin had climbed up as well. He looked at the two young dwarves for a moment and then jumped down. Fíli smiled at his brother before jumping down as well. Kíli took a deep breath and looked at Fíli while his brother braced himself to catch him. Kíli hesitated for a moment and then jumped. Fíli caught him, but Kíli's weight proved a bit much for him and both dwarves crashed on the ground. Kíli quickly sat up so Fíli could get up as well.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Fíli asked with a grin on his face.

"I suppose it wasn't." Kíli replied.

They both got back on their feet and brushed the soil from their clothes clothes. Now everyone had made it back to the group, they continued walking. But they weren't walking long when Kíli's ankle started to hurt again. Every step he took was sending a new stab of pain through his ankle. But he bit it back, not wanting to show any weakness to anyone. Certainly not to Thorin, who would only scold at him and tell him how foolish he had been. They all walked in silence, as had become their second nature since they had entered the forest. There was no sound to be heard. There was no wind rustling through the leaves nor the sound of birds. It really made them miss those simple things. Suddenly there was a loud cracking sound coming from above their heads. They all looked up and saw a huge branch falling down towards them. Everyone moved out of the way. Only Bifur remained standing in it's path, looking seemingly fascinated at it. The branch would've hit Bifur if Bofur and Bombur hadn't pulled him away. It hitted on the ground, where Bifur had been standing earlier, with a thud.

"This forest really hates us, doesn't it?" Nori mumbled.

"This forest hates everyone. And certainly strangers." Dwalin, who was standing next to him, replied.

"Keep moving!" Thorin suddenly barked.

"Well, someone is his charming self again." Kíli remarked to his brother, who was walking next to him again.

"Will you just stop with being like that?" Fíli said.

"Don't tell me to stop! That branch was large enough to really hurt Bifur. Or even worser, kill him. But I doubt he cares about our well being." Kíli said angrily.

"He cares, Kíli. Why else do you think he would be pushing us so hard to keep going? He wants to get us out of this place as fast as possible because he knows this place is dangerous." Fíli answered.

"He certainly has a strange way of showing that!"

"That is because his pride doesn't allow him to show any worry in front of the others."

"Curse his pride then! Without it we wouldn't even be here!"

"Kíli!" Fíli exclaimed.

"What? It's the truth and you know it is! I want to go home and be with our mother and caring uncle! I want to be with our uncle who would never have hit me!" Kíli said, looking down at the ground.

That made Fíli understand his brother's demeanor.

"You are a little bit homesick, aren't you?" He asked in a soft voice.

"Maybe I am. I miss mom and I would like to go back to the time when uncle was still his gentlier self. Not this grumpy, burdened and uncaring person."

"So that is how you think about uncle?"

Kíli nodded but still didn't look up.

"He probably would be so angry at me if he would've heared me saying this." Kíli said.

"No. He wouldn't be, brother." Fíli answered. "And he never changed, Kíli. He only hid his true self."

"Why?" Kíli asked, raising his eyes to meet Fíli's.

"Because he is our leader now. And he will be acting like this when he will be king as well. As our leader now or as our king later, he can't show any worry. Showing any worry might be seen as weakness. So it might make some lose their trust in him. So that is why he carefully makes sure not to show any of his real feelings. But deep inside he cares and worries." Fíli explained.

Kíli remained silent for a while, thinking about all the things Fíli had just said. Fíli looked Kíli over while they walked and noticed he was limping slightly.

"Kíli?"

"Hm?" He got as a reply.

"Are you sure you are alright? You're limping." Fíli asked, slightly worried.

"I'm fine. I only made a wrong movement earlier." Kíli replied. "It will pass."

Fíli nodded softly. He doubted his brother's words about the extent of his injuries, but he decided to keep silent about his worries for now.

"Have you talked with Thorin earlier?" Fíli asked instead.

"No." Kíli answered. "I didn't want to listen to him because I was so angry."

"Then maybe you should do so right now."

"I really should, shouldn't I?" Kíli asked.

"Yes, you should. He has been glancing back at you for quite some time already."

Kíli looked towards Thorin and noticed he was indeed looking back regularly. He felt a pang of guilt as he saw the sad expression in his uncle's eyes. He never saw that expression there before and it made him feel more uncomfortable then when Thorin would be angry.

Fíli patted him on the shoulder. "Go talk to him." He said. "You don't have to talk about the things that happened during the last couple of days. Leave that for when you got no one eavesdropping. Just talk about something to keep uncle's thought from pondering."

Fíli walked over to Bofur, Bifur and Bombur to talk with them. Kíli watched him walk away. He looked at the others but none of them were paying any attention to him. It made him feel a bit lonely. Kíli looked at Thorin again, who was still walking with a steady pace, and sighed. He slowly started to walk towards Thorin, dreading his uncle's reaction, and walked next to him in silence for a while. Thorin glanced to his left and Kíli noticed the surprise that was visible on Thorin's face for a very short moment, before turning back to the expression he usually wore these days. Kíli quickly averted his eyes and so did Thorin. Thorin didn't look at him anymore after that, so eventually Kíli decided to speak.

"Uhm… Thorin?" He said cautiously.

Thorin looked at him with his cold, blue eyes. Kíli cringed under his gaze, expecting to be reprimanded for disturbing his uncle. He looked at Thorin and felt relieve wash over him when the look in Thorin's eyes softened.

"What is it?" Thorin asked, never taking his eyes off of Kíli.

"I was wondering wich way we are going to take next." Kíli asked.

"I don't know yet." Thorin answered. "It all depends on where this one will lead us to."

Kíli nodded and remained silent for while, thinking about what else he might be able to talk about. But the throbbing pain in his ankle wasn't really helping him to think straight.

"Would mother be missing us?" He eventually asked in a hushed voice.

Thorin looked at him in surprise. "Why this sudden question?" He asked.

"I was only wondering." Kíli replied.

"Ofcourse she misses you and your brother. You are her sons. I'm sure she's missing you every single day."

"And probably worried sick." Kíli added.

Thorin started to laugh, wich was earning him some surprised glances from the other dwarves around him.

"Most likely." Thorin replied. "And I'm sure she is worrying more about you then about your brother. Certainly with all your antics."

"I haven't been doing anything yet to joke or to tease until now." Kíli said in fake annoyance and softly hit Thorin's arm.

"Oh, is that so? Then what about the night you and Fíli scared Bilbo with your story about a night raid by orcs?"

Kíli's face fell when he remembered that night and lowered his gaze.

"I'm sorry, Thorin." Kíli said in a soft voice.

Thorin grew serious again.

"Kíli, look at me." He said with a warm expression on his face.

Kíli raised his head again to look at his uncle.

"I'm not angry about that." Thorin continued.

"But back then you were…" Kíli answered.

"Even back then I wasn't angry about it. I was annoyed, yes, but not angry. And Bilbo's reaction on it was quite funny."

Kíli grinned, remembering Bilbo's scared face.

"It was." Kíli agreed. "Alright, we did one thing already. But not more."

"That might still come." Thorin remarked with a small smile.

"I will try not to if that is what you want."

"Really, lad. I wouldn't mind if you would do some pranks. As long as they don't endanger others ofcourse."

"I wouldn't do anything that could harm anyone else. And you know that, uncle."

"I do know that, lad." Thorin replied.

Thorin continued looking at the road again. They ceased speaking, but remained walking next to each other. Kíli tried to keep up with his uncle. But suddenly his foot hit something he didn't notice and he cursed under his breath when a sharp, stabbing pain coursed through his injured ankle. Thorin quickly stabled him as he stumbled and kept supporting him.

"You're alright?" Thorin asked, slightly worried.

All the others had stopped no wand where watching them.

"I'm fine. Only a bit weary." Kíli answered while pushing himself away from Thorin. He didn't want to look weak in front of the ones who where watching them. And that was what he must be looking like now to them. But as soon as he putted pressure on both his feet again, his right ankle gave way underneath him. Kíli slumped against Thorin again and grunted in annoyance. Kíli knew Thorin was looking at him but he kept looking away from Thorin's gaze, wich he thought was filled with dissapointment. He tried to put pressure on his right foot again, but was forced to stop trying when the pain is his ankle doubled. He hissed and rested his face against Thorin's chest, not wanting anyone to see the pain in his eyes. He startled as Thorin lifted him from the ground and carried him towards a tree.

"Thorin! Please put me down! I can walk." Kíli protested.

But Thorin didn't reply and didn't stop walking, much at Kíli's embarrassement. Thorin eventually placed him down against a tree. He turned around to the others.

"We will rest here for a while. Bombur start a fire and start preparing some food, please. Bofur, help him with that. Dwalin, Gloin and Nori you will guard the surroundings. Dori and Ori, would you please find us some more firewood? The rest of you will set up camp." Thorin ordered around.

Everyone started to do the tasks they had been assigned to. Thorin sat down in front of Kíli while Fíli walked over to them and sat down next to his brother.

"What happened?" Thorin asked at Fíli as soon as he had joined them.

"When we were climbing our last obstacle earlier he slipped and fell several feet down. He must have hurted himself back then, for after that nothing happened." Fíli answered.

Thorin nodded. "Well, let's see what damage has been done." He said.

Kíli shifted uncomfortable and looked at Fíli, uncertain. Fíli placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Thorin carefully removed Kíli's boot and looked at his ankle. It was swollen and had an unhealty, dark blue color. Thorin gently moved it. Kíli grunted softly and tried to pull his right foot out of Thorin's grasp. But Thorin had a strong hold on it.

"I'm sorry, lad. This is something that has to be done. I have to make sure that there isn't any more damage then only a sprain."

Kíli leaned back against the tree he was sitting against, teeth clenged, while Thorin moved his foot in every direction possible to check if there were no ligaments torn. Finding that that wasn't the case, Thorin started binding Kíli's ankle tightly so it would help support any weight he might put on it.

"Why didn't you say something that it was troubling you that much?" Fíli softly asked to his brother.

"Indeed. Why didn't you?" Thorin added after Fíli's question.

"Would you have listened to me if I would've tried to tell you?" Kíli asked him in return.

"Ofcourse I would've." Thorin replied. "But you didn't. So I ask you again, why didn't you tell?"

Kíli lowered his head before speaking.

"I didn't want to be a burden. Not again." He said with a soft voice, sadness sounding through in it.

Thorin sighed softly and looked at Fíli.

"Fíli, would you mind to check if Bombur isn't ready with the food yet? And if he isn't, help him."

Fíli nodded, stood up and walked to Bombur. He hoped Thorin and Kíli would finally talk with each other. And he hoped his brother wouldn't be to stubborn again to listen to Thorin.

"Why do you think you are a burden?" Thorin asked to Kíli as soon as Fíli couldn't hear them anymore.

"Everyone seems to think I am. And I suppose they are right about that." Kíli answered.

"Kíli, you are not a burden and no one is thinking that. And even if they were, they wouldn't be right."

Kíli didn't say anything in reply. He only waited for Thorin to continue speaking.

"I know there went a lot of things wrong already. But none of those things were your fault and no one is blaming you for them. You already have done a lot of things that really helped us." Thorin said. "And I couldn't be any more proud of you."

Kíli looked at Thorin with wide eyes, not completely believing what he just heared.

"Do you mean this?" He asked at his uncle, disbelieving.

"I do." Thorin answered. "And I have always been. I'm sorry for getting angry at you earlier. And I'm even more sorry for striking you. It wasn't a righteous thing to do and I should never have done so."

Kíli shrugged. "I deserved it."

"No you didn't." Thorin replied.

"But I started arguing with you. I was the one who made you angry."

"Maybe you did. But that still wasn't a reason to hit you. And I wasn't angry at you. I wasn't angry at anyone for that matter. I only wasn't to thrilled to venture in this place. It worried me and I think that I took that out on others. But never forget that I never will see you as a burden or whatsoever. You are not the only one who made a promise to your mother. I promised her I would protect you and your brother. And I am planning to keep that promise." Thorin said.

Now Thorin had been speaking about his promise, Kíli felt in his pocket for his runestone. When he noticed it wasn't in it he started looking in every pocket in his clothes, panicked. Thorin quickly placed a hand on his nephew's head.

"It's alright. Calm down." Thorin said to him. "I found it and placed it safely between the spare clothes in your bag."

Kíli sighed in relief. "Thank you." He said with a soft voice.

Thorin smiled at him. Fíli walked up to them with two bowls in his hands. He handed one to Kíli and sat down beside him. Thorin stood up.

"Eat now and then rest." He said before starting to walk away.

"Thorin?" Kíli called after him. Thorin turned back around to face him again.

"Will you come back and sit with us later?"

"If that is what you want, then I will." He replied.

Kíli nodded and Thorin smiled at him warmly. He turned back around and walked towards the fire to get his own portion of food from Bombur. 

* * *

><p><strong>Hello everyone!<strong>

**Here I am with a brand new chapter.  
>I had a really great time writing this one. So much fun even that I let myself get carried away a bit. I soon had reached the 3000 words and I wasn't far from finished yet. Eventually this became a chapter consisting out of 3957 words.<br>So I really hope you will like it.  
>Please let me know if you liked a longer chapter like this one and maybe I can try to make all my chapters a bit longer.<strong>

**Much love,  
>Alicia<strong>


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Fíli and Kíli remained seated next to eachother and ate in silence. Kíli was looking around him at times, as if looking for something. Fíli watched his brother, wondering what he might be looking for.

"It's so quiet and so dark." Kíli whispered to his brother after looking around for several minutes. "I wonder if it is day or night right now. You would at least expect to see and hear some birds or other animals in a forest."

"Who is going to say what time it is right now. Nothing is getting through the leaves of those trees." Fíli answered, equally quiet. "And remember we aren't in a normal forest. There might be a reason why there are no animals being seen or heard in here. But I am not sure if I want to find out what that reason might be."

"I guess you are right about that." Kíli said. "I can't remember ever having been into such a forest as this. And I hope I hope I will never be in one like this ever again. I can't wait to get out of here. If we ever get out of here again."

"Me neither, brother. But we will get out of here. Thorin wouldn't let us be stuck in here forever."

"How do you know that? We are already lost, remember?"

Fíli remained silent for a moment. "I'm sure he will find a way out of here. He has gotten us out of a lot of dire situations already."

"With the help of Gandalf most of the time. And if you haven't noticed yet, he isn't really here." Kíli retorted.

Fíli sighed. "I know that, brother. But there is always a way out of everything."

Everything became silent again as they ceased talking with eachother. There was a soft rustling in the leaves above there heads that didn't quite sounded like the sound of wind. The sound made them feel even more uncomfortable. They immediately didn't have any interest in their food anymore. They watched the trees about them suspiciously, not being able to see what caused the sound. Fíli could swear that he saw many pairs of yellow eyes looking back at him.

"Do you see them too?" He asked to his brother.

"Yes, I do." Kíli answered. "What do you think they are?"

"I don't know. And I am not going to wait here to find that out. Come on."

Fíli stood up and reached his hand out to Kíli, who took it and allowed his brother to help him up. After Kíli was standing on his own well enough, Fíli released him. Kíli took some carefull steps forward to test if his ankle could hold his weight properly. When this seemed to be the case, he followed his brother to were the others were sitting.

When Thorin reached his other companions, who had seated themselves around the fire in a cirkle so they all could enjoy it's warmth, he walked over to Bombur and accepted a bowl from him with a nod and went to sit next to Balin and Dwalin. He started to eat in silence, listening to Bofur, who was telling jokes and funny stories with Ori and Bilbo listening intently to him. The others were watching them in amusement, but they didn't utter a single word. Even Thorin couldn't keep himself from smiling a little. They kept listening to Bofur for a long time. He certainly knew how to brighten up even the most gloomy and dark places they would be finding themselves in. When he saw Balin and Dwalin move away from him slightly out of the corner of his eyes, Thorin looked away from Bofur and looked to the side Balin had been sitting next to him earlier. Only now Kíli sat down next to him and Fíli to his other side.

"I had expected that it would take you a bit longer to come and join us again." Thorin said to his nephews. "You have barely eaten anything." He remarked sterly as he noticed their food, wich they had barely touched.

"We were being watched." Fíli said to his uncle, speaking quietly as not to worry the others unnecessary. "There were many bright yellow eyes shining in the trees above us."

"Are you sure it were eyes that you saw?" Thorin asked to his oldest nephew.

"There is no sunlight or moonlight coming through those leaves. Otherwise it wouldn't be so dark."

Thorin nodded. "Do you have any idea what it might have been?"

Thorin looked from Fíli to Kíli. When both dwarves shook their heads, he looked up and scanned the trees above them for anything out of the ordinary. Finding nothing, he looked back to his nephews.

"There's nothing there." Thorin said.

"We aren't pretending, uncle." Kíli replied this time.

"I don't doubt that you aren't pretending, lad. But there is nothing there anymore. So whatever it was, it's gone now. Now, eat."

Fíli and Kíli complied silently while watching their surroundings, almost expecting to see the yellow eyes again. But they didn't see anything anymore and allowed themselves to relax after a while and started listening to Bofur as well, who was still talking cheerfully like there was no care in the world. But after a while even he went silent as everyone decided to get some much needed sleep. They were all lying as close to the fire as was possible, weapons within their reach. Fíli and Kíli were lying with their faces turned towards the fire with Thorin seated in between them. He was softly humming to himself. Nori, who had been appointed to be on first watch, was sitting with his mace resting against his shoulder and watching the trees around them for any dangerous creatures that might be trying to creep up on them. No sound was being heard except for the crackling of the fire and Thorin's soft humming. But only moments later Thorin went quiet as well as he laid down between his nephews and slowly drifted off to sleep, leaving Nori to sit in silence.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi everyone!<strong>

**I'm really so sorry to have kept you waiting...  
><strong>**It has been quite busy for me for quite some time, wich kept me from writing and updating.  
>I will try to write and update more frequently again from now on, but there might be quite some time between the updates still though.<br>But let's start with this new chapter of Left Behind.  
>I hope you will all enjoy it, even though it's a bit short.<strong>

**Please leave me a review and let me know what you think. I would highly appreciate it ;)**

**~Alicia~**


	8. Author's Note 2

**Hi everyone!**

**First of all I'm sorry that this isn't an update.  
>I know many of you are most likely waiting for an update. <strong>

**It has been more than a year since I last updated any of my stories, wich I am really sorry for.  
>Unfortunately I started working at a company where I had applied for a job almost two months after I last updated my stories "Hunted" and "Left Behind". And, even though I really love my job and doing things that I always wanted to do but were just to expensive, it left me with little time to write. And on top of that I struggled with a writers block for several months after that. By now I have started writing again quite a while back, but I have barely had any time to do so. And because I'm also a perfectionist, it isn't really getting anywhere at the moment because I keep changing and adding things or quickly making notes on whatever piece of paper I have at hand that I have now more than 20 pieces of paper with parts of future chapters on it that still have to be connected to the part of the chapters I already have and being changed so that they fit into the story. And now things got even more busy for me and it leaves me with even lesser time to write. But I hope everything will be mostly over and done with in a month from now. Then I will be able to devote me more to writing again. <strong>

**I know it's a little late, but I wish all of you out there a lot of luck and happyness in 2016!**

**All I have to say still now is that I am so grateful for all the ones following me and leaving me a review. Those mean so much to me. Without you all I most likely wouldn't have enjoyed this so much as I do now. Who knows, maybe I even wouldn't have continued by now. You all are the ones that keep me going. Thank you all so much for that!**

**Also I got to know some fellow writers rather well and have had many long chats with them, wich I really enjoy. I even had the honor to meet one of them already in person. Thank you Death to elves, Mira Meliandra and avaes for the many nice chats we had so far, for supporting me unconditionally and being so nice to me. **

**Well, that's all for now. Hope to be back as soon as possible with a new chapter.**

**Much love, **

**Alicia**


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